To gain an Isle of Man Online Gambling Regulations Act 2001 (OGRA) Licence, the following conditions must be met:
- A company must be incorporated in the Isle of Man;
- There must be two local Directors;
- A resident Designated Official, or if the D.O. is not resident then there must be a resident Operations Manager – The O.M. can be the same person as a resident Director and can be provided by a Corporate Service Provider;
- An application fee of £5,250 is paid and all relevant application forms are completed;
- Player funds must be protected at all times for B2C licensees;
- All games, RNGs and gambling systems must be certified by an approved test house;
- Directors, D.O., Money Laundering Reporting Officers and beneficial owners owning 5% or more of the company will be subject to due diligence obligations.
The Isle of Man offers several gambling licences, including:
- Full Licence: Considered as the ‘standard’ licence that covers all online gambling verticals, including sports betting, casino, poker, lotteries, and other games of chance. Such licence allows the licencee to perform B2C activities such as offering the game, striking the bet and registering players as well as well as B2B activities such as offering Software/Game Provision, Sub-Licences and White Labels to other operators.
- Network Services Licence: A Network Services Licence operates the same as a Full Licence however Network Licence holders have more B2B options to complement their opportunities to sub-licence and White Label. Issued under the Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001.
- Sub-Licence: Permits a licensee to sub-licence their online gambling operations to other companies. White Labels can be offered, and Sub licensees keep their players data.
- Software Supplier Licence: Enables Software Suppliers to list their content on the GSC’s Approved Software Register. Any Isle of Man B2C operator can then deploy these games on their site without needing to acquire RNG testing certificates, as the GSC will have already received these from the software supplier.
- Token-Based Software Supplier Licence: Allows Token-Based Software Suppliers to list their token-based gambling software on the GSC’s Approved Software Register. Any Isle of Man B2C operator can then deploy these games on their site without needing to acquire RNG testing certificates, as the GSC will have already received these from the software supplier.
All licences are subject to a £5,250 application fee, proceeded by the following annual rates:
- Full Licence – £36,750 per annum
- Sub-Licence – £5,250 per annum (conditions apply)
- Network Licence – £52,500 per annum
- Software Supplier Licence – £36,750 per annum
- Token/Blockchain based Software Supplier Licence – £52,500 per annum.